How much alloy do you get back from a bullet trap?

[Petander]

A friend made me a trap. We have it in our hunting club cabin range.

My friend wanted to make it strong enough for rifles, just in case someone wants to test it.


This is the principle:

https://i.postimg.cc/52ZWFYrv/IMG-20210226-022052-264.jpg

Compared to other "trap scrap", I feel I'm getting back much less. There is at least 50% of black dust, is that oxidized lead or what? All in all I'm getting 40% of the total scrap weight...? Why? Where does the alloy disappear?

The circulating construction seems to grind the bullets into dust...? I get flattened out bullets from other traps. More lead percentage,less dust.

Ideas,experience appreciated,thank you.

[Conditor22]

IF the sides aren't sharp/steep enough you can lose lead out the front. Do you have a tight seal between the trap and the lead catcher underneath?

[Winger Ed.]

Heat the dust and see what ya got.
The dirt will float up on top of any Lead.

[Gtrubicon]

I built one about a month ago, I hang a 5 gallon bucket below the pipe. I shot 6 rounds of 45 colt into it, then I weighed the leftovers in the bucket and was shocked at the reclaimed weight vs the known weight I shot into it, I didn’t record my numbers or remember what exactly it was. But I can tell you it flat works! I was shocked at how close the numbers were.

[Petander]

Heat the dust and see what ya got.
The dirt will float up on top of any Lead.

Done that many times now. It is dark, almost black heavy dust.

It won't melt back in. Just got six kilos of dust / four kilos of lead alloy yesterday.

I'm not getting lead splatters from the front, neither losing any from the bucket. Trap inside surface is rough, it is just sort of grating the bullets into dust that oxidizes...?

[dverna]

I use a sand trap. There is nothing that will go through 10" of sand.

[farmbif]

get an old truck mud flap to put in front of opening behind target and see if that might hold bullets in, it might slow them down enough so they don't disintegrate.

[Petander]

get an old truck mud flap to put in front of opening behind target and see if that might hold bullets in, it might slow them down enough so they don't disintegrate.

This will probably work.

The only disadvantage is that burning rubber smell... it takes over the whole town when I melt "rubberized" scrap.

I'll try it anyway. Too much waste now.

[TNsailorman]

A Gun Club that I shot at years ago used old coal mining conveyer belts to shoot into. They would stop anything up to and including a .357 magnum without the bullet going through. It was funny to walk up to a target to score it and see 148 grain .38 WC bullets that were not more than 1/3 way into the free hanging belting. You could actually pick those bullets right out of the belting without much trouble. I would think that something similar to that type of conveyer belt across the front of your trap would work quite well in slowing the bullet down so that it did not destroy itself.

[Petander]

Yes,even the slow bullets get partially ground into dust, apparently when circulating in the cylinder.

Another local range has different traps with a steeper angle. I get much more alloy there, mostly flattened bullets.

Gonna try some stopper.

[GregLaROCHE]

Heat the dust and see what ya got.
The dirt will float up on top of any Lead.

I’ve found that when recovering lead from an indoor range, the powder, dust and tiny oxidized pieces, takes an awful lot more heat to melt and yields very little lead. I now sift everything with a 1/8 inch screen and discard the fine stuff. I feel I save a lot on propane that way. I do have access to all the scrap I need, so lower fuel cost is more important than yield.

I have a trap that works with angled plates. There is a lot of lead loss due to it getting pulverized on impact. I always thought the circular type would be better. From what is being said, I guess not.

[Mal Paso]

I plan to try one at 15 degrees to see if that helps. That will make the trap about 2 feet long.

[GregLaROCHE]

I plan to try one at 15 degrees to see if that helps. That will make the trap about 2 feet long.

What do you plan to have at the end of the angled plates? Be sure to let us know how it works and what percent of lead you recover.

[Mal Paso]

What do you plan to have at the end of the angled plates? Be sure to let us know how it works and what percent of lead you recover.

The round piece is SCH 40 6 inch plumbing pipe, almost 1/4 inch thick. I have about 6 feet of that. I am typically shooting 250g bullets at 1300+. We'll see. LOL

Those are all inside measurements, I didn't include the thickness of the steel.

[Soundguy]

that bottom lip of the cone.. make sure it protrudes a couple inches into the pipe or you can loose lead out the front.

We made a bullet trap this weekend. hope to put it to use soon.

[Rizzo]

I also use a sand trap.
Actually I have several set up at different distances in my back yard.
No disintegrated bullets to deal with.
I empty the sand through 1/4" mesh wire screening to retrieve the lead.
These are not portable.

Perhaps those metal traps spoken of here are portable, so that could be a benefit if you want to lug them to your shooting area.

[GregLaROCHE]

I plan to try one at 15 degrees to see if that helps. That will make the trap about 2 feet long.

I would worry about that six foot pipe getting filled up and boolits packing themselves in so tight, that it will be impossible to get them out without melting them. Maybe that wouldn’t be a problem if you clean them out after each use.

[Drm50]

We hang heavy conveyor belting to stop bullets. It self seals to a point when bullet passes through and the never have the power to penetrate belting hung from top, bottom just floats, on the bounce.You have to move your bullseye around a little. You can chew a hole shooting at same mark.

[jonp]

I'm assuming a trap is different from a box. I get about 75% with my box using revolvers and cast boolit velocities for practice. I could probably get more but let the shavings and splatters go.

[JM7.7x58]

I made the mistake of buying Linotype/monotype saw chips from a typesetting company a few years ago. There was a lot of that oxidized black dust when I smelted that batch. I read on here that you needed to use either oil or wax to get it to get that dust to melt. So I just kept adding chunks of wax and a lot of that dust turned back into usable Linotype. At one point the flames where 4-6 feet tall.

[MR45]

I built a 2-2-3 ft wooden box with a 1/4 inch plate with in the back
Then fill it with cut up racing tires
I pull it apart once a year
I get 100% back in hole bullets
Little smell wend I melt them down

[Mal Paso]

I would worry about that six foot pipe getting filled up and boolits packing themselves in so tight, that it will be impossible to get them out without melting them. Maybe that wouldn’t be a problem if you clean them out after each use.

I was planning on cutting the pipe to a usable length, 6 feet is what I have total. LOL

[GregLaROCHE]

I’m going to add a piece of conveyer belt type material in front of mine and see what kind of difference it makes.

[Bloodman14]

I use a 55 gallon drum (plastic) on it's side and filled with rubber mulch. Cut an access hole to fill it, and cover the hole with an old doormat. I find mostly whole boolits, and lots of shed checks. Staple your targets directly to the plastic. Stops my .303's, 30-30, and 7.62x39's from my SKS, all at cast velocities.